Customer Reviews

Assassin's Creed Revelations [Download]

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I mean, it is sweet, its Assassin's Creed. The characters, the story, all top notch. Istanbul/Constantinople is a beautiful city...which looks to be about half the size of Rome from AC:B. Graphics and Story get 9/10, and that's with the "we all knew it was coming" fact that this won't be the last AC and it doesn't reveal much.

This game was much more cinematic than the others, and it doesn't fail in this since its well done. Where it does fail is that the game is waaaaay to short. Each Memory Sequence is made of 2 story quests and 2 book quests. The book quests take the place of the requisite Assassin relic missions. I logged a total of 27 hours, and while that sounds like a long time, that was me abusing the money system by leaving it running. I should have seen it as a warning sign of shortness when it turns out practically the entire map is open to you from the beginning. take that 27 hours and knock 16 off (2 8 hour shifts I left the game on to fill up all my banks) leaves you with 11 hours, which maybe a third of were quests. Most of that was running around. Tunnels are back, but with a map this small, and the necessity of keeping a low profile half the fun is ruined by using them.

Its sad because they made the world breath much more than the other games before it. In this I mean that while you are much more effective in combat, combat is harder. Taking control of a zone doesn't mean you won't lose it. You have to maintain a low profile or the Templars come looking for you. Stalkers (Templar Assassins that randomly spawn and try to assassinate you) might add a bit of suspense, if it wasn't practically impossible to be killed by one even when they get the drop on you.

A minor complaint about the face change: Desmond looks like a douchy cousin of Nicholas Cage now. Ubi said it was from a better facial recognition software, but I'm pretty sure they changed actors as well, because the new Desmond looks nothing like his earlier incarnations. Bad move, I hate the new Desmond, don't care about him at all. Is it a shallow complaint? Maybe, but it definitely ruined the immersion not only for them to change him but to change him into someone who looks so bland and uncaring you want to punch them to see if they even react. Strangely enough, they use the same (New) actor for Ezio, but it works better, guess the beard and grey really make that much difference. Altair also gets a new face and voice, but they didn't totally screw him up the way they did Desmond.

So the Irony is that sure, its a great game, and if you love AC then you will love this one. It just feels like an addon-pack more than a full game. As much as I'm sure multiplayer is fun, its not the reason we play AC games and I resent the fact that Ubisoft wasted time that could have added more story to the game.

The game is good at points. You can move around the city much smoother, thanks to the excellent addition of the "hook blade." Missions anywhere outside the main city is very exciting, beautiful, and cinematic; I myself love the canyon view of the first "finding the key" mission. And the addition of bombs turn out really nicely. For AC Fans, this game also wraps up the stories of Altair and Ezio; although the main focus is on Ezio, you get to see how Altair continues his life after AC1, grows old, and dies.

But the game's main fighting system seriously depowers the player. Here's why: AC:R makes guns a major component of enemy weapons. It is the only attack in the game that is unblockable, undodgable, and does tremendous damage. Any rooftop guard and Janissary (super guards that patrol the city in groups) possess guns. But your ability to focus (or select who to attack) is not modified to "fit in."

For example, the focus ability has a very short range compared to enemy sights. So when a roof guard spots you and begin aiming, and you may want to take him out before he does the same to you, but your focus ability, the only way to aim, does not allow you to do so. A more in-game translation is that your master assassin, the best fighter in the whole world, cannot see as far as the guard does. This results in lots of unnecessary attacks by rooftop guards.

Another example is that Janissaries will try to aim and shoot you in close combat. When he begins aiming at you with his gun, you will want to hit him within a second or so to disrupt the shot. But because he always backs up as he aims, your focus system will likely direct your attacks toward other guards (whose attacks you can block or even counter-kill or counter-steal). This results in lots of unnecessary hits and deaths in combat.

Overall, the game does have some exciting moments, a good navigating system, and an excellent finishing touch to the previous games. But these are not nearly enough to make up for the bad combat system, which kills skilled players because the aiming system compromises every skill the player possesses. For the first time in the AC series, I no longer feel comfortable picking fights (and I'm a d*** good AC player; I've finished AC1 5 times, AC2 2 times, ACB 2 times, and now ACR 1 time).

This is my second AC title having just finished ACB several months ago. I cannot speak to the length of the single player story as I am still in the early stages. However, like all AC titles, there are a ton of side quests and personally I plan to do as much of that as possible before I complete the main quest line.

The graphics are simply stunning. I do not know if there was an upgrade to the graphics engine or if it's just the new city it takes place in. It's one of those rare games where I am happy just to exist and explore. So no hurry for me to get thru it all. As with past titles you can interact with every person in town, even if that's an accidental pick pocket which results in a woman in a burka chasing you down swearing your very existence.

Gone is the investment system, which I say good riddance.

Added is a quirky tower defense game. Whenever your Templar Awareness (think AC B notoriety) gets too high the Templars will attempt to take one of your dens. This triggers the tower defense mini-game. If you lose your den you also lose control of the area and have to re-take it by killing a captain and setting a tower on fire. Although I enjoy the tower defense mini-game I hate how I have to constantly monitor my Templar awareness level. It's sort of a pain to bring it down because gone are the posters you can rip down and the officials and heralds are few and far between. This new system seems like an arbitrary way to slow down the player. For example if you buy a shop your Templar Awareness shoots up. You can only buy two shops before it triggers a Templar attack on a den. So you have to wait and/or do something else while the awareness dissipates.

There is a bit more cinema in this title and it is very well done. Unlike most games I really feel like I am part of the story and that my quests are relevant.

ACR is more like a 3.5 than a 4. AC is my favorite video game franchise and this title only suffers by comparison to the previous ones, not on its own. Like others have mentioned, ACR is not the best introduction to the franchise, play AC II first and then either Brotherhood --> Revelations or the original if you enjoy AC II. I played ACR on a decent gaming machine with an xbox controller (if you buy any of the AC games on PC, get a controller). I only encountered bugs replaying some of the missions for full sync and in the multiplayer but your mileage may vary. This review may contain some spoilers.

The Good:
- Most beautiful AC game: That's saying a lot. The great design is why I love these games. Constantinople is absolutely gorgeous and a joy to explore. Some of the cinematic sequences like the boat chase were particularly memorable. My minor gripe is that Constantinople felt so small compared to the previous cities, and you could tell the developers didn't spend nearly as much time on Cappadocia. More effective use of interiors of landmarks and landmarks in general would've also been appreciated (like the basilica Ezio scales top down in Brotherhood).
- Platforming dungeons: The improved graphics and integrated use of the hookblade really enhanced my platforming experience from the previous games. However, I wish they were more challenging. I remember spending an hour trying to figure out the pathing for one of the AC II dungeons, but I was able to achieve full sync in almost all the dungeons on my first try (approx. 5 min time limit). I hope they bring back the difficulty level of the AC II tombs in the next title.
- Improved assassin recruitment: I loved this aspect of Brotherhood and really welcomed the side missions for training master assassins. This was my favorite addition over the previous games.
- Sofia: Great character and I really enjoyed the development of her relationship with Ezio, even if it felt rushed like every other plot point.
- MINSTREL MISSION! My favorite in all of AC, this was so clever, hilarious and well-executed.
- Altair memories: Sad but fitting end to the assassin that started it all.

The Average:
- Hookblade: Fun addition but I was rarely given the incentive to use it outside of the platforming levels, especially with all the rooftop guards. New kill animations and extra inches on jumps is nice though.
- Bomb crafting: I appreciated the bomb side missions and general crafting interface, but limiting chest loot to bomb materials ruined the chest side objective for me. Additionally, since Ubi chose to highlight this as a "game changer", I would've liked main missions that really integrate this new feature.
- All new non-Sofia characters: Yusuf and Suleiman were really promising but fell tragically short of achieving much resonance. It felt like they didn't even try with Piri Reis.
- "Boss fight": Short of the original game, this has never really been the strong or selling point of AC, but the end fight for this game was less memorable than some of the DiVinci machine missions in AC Brotherhood.
- Desmond's levels: Novel is good, but I didn't even play any of them beyond the first level because it was so jarring and shoddily executed.
- Multiplayer: Great PvP concept that kept my interest for a few days, but the perk system really made it unbalanced to new players. Rooftops ruined it for me. Multiplayer could be awesome though with the right group of friends.

The Bad:
- Rushed story: I spent over 20 hours working through the AC II main campaign, with some welcome distractions along the way. Could've probably finished the main storyline for this in less than seven hours. More importantly, other than the assassin recruitment missions, I didn't want to be distracted by the side objectives.
- Tower defense and notoriety system: These elements felt like they were added to force you to waste time and to gloss over the rushed plot.
- Lack of side missions: The endless assassination contracts were one of my favorite aspects of previous games, where did they go? Likewise with races and beat up events. I guess the game expects you to sink the majority of your time into the Mediterranean defense mini-game, but it's a pretty pointless time dump beyond leveling up master assassins. Only challenge is knowing how to add and waiting 3-20 mins.
- Carriages: Despise them even if they're different from the general gameplay.

I hope they release a single player DLC soon to tide us over until AC III. Multiplayer is novel but Ubi shouldn't prioritize it over single player.

I'll keep this short and simple. This is a great game and so far i have not encountered any problems and yes the story is a little short but if you're a AC fan you will love it.Recommended.

If your in this game for the single player only you may be dissapointed with the short of it compared to the others. The life in revelations is amazing, the enchanced graphics are a plus. The game seems so much more real and of course is better in its predeccesors. You might not notice the short story because of the mini-games and small quests you do for the primary parts. Now with multiplayer, they fixed most of the problems in Assassins Creed Brotherhood if not all. Along with the new game modes. If your in for both MP and SP you won't be dissapointed with this game.

Not much to say here is just ASSASSINS CREED for goodness sake just buy it put it on your cart and download this bad boy. The multiplayer is awesome. If you want a mach just look me as maruke. The story is all weird and stuff didn't like the story, but the multiplayer is where the money is at.

Im very satisfied with this game, fast shipping from amazon. Thanks alot and great do bussiness with you. About the game i think its a little bit hard to play but its fantastic because challenges you

I'll start this review by saying that I have not yet completed the game. I have put several hours into it, and I believe I am at about 50% completion of the story. While I am not done, the % synchronization rises pretty fast, even though I haven't gotten 100% on every mission. While this game is pretty short, it is really, really fun. It basically matches AC: Brotherhood, but comes with bombs and a new weapon, the hookblade. Bomb ingredients take the place of the random junk you would find in Brotherhood, which I like. I have not yet had a chance to play online, but if it is anything like Brotherhood's, I know it will be fun.

This game is NOT Steam redeemable, but instead uses the Uplay launcher. I like this though, because it allows you to unlock Uplay points to spend on ingame items. One is three weapons from Brotherhood for use in single-player, and another is The Knight character for online play.

For game mechanics, it seems like Revelations kept with most of Brotherhood's. Unconscious NPCs will lie with no ragdoll physics, and dead ones will. The ragdoll effect is a bit glitchy, and the occasional body will squirm around, but it's nothing that would deduct a star. The bombs are quite fun, and the bomb crafting table lets you test them out in a blank world with a couple groups of guards and a circle of citizens. These bombs are pretty fun, and make your assassin life interesting. There is also the new hookblade, which takes the place of your second hidden blade. The two are fun when fighting with them, and it lets you grab onto things while falling with ease. As for combat, that stuck with Brotherhood's kill streaking sort of thing, but including a slow motion effect on the final kill. This makes everything move together much better, and makes the fighting look cool.

Overall, if you enjoyed Brotherhood, you will enjoy Revelations.

This game was fun and well-made. My main problem with it is that, story-wise, it seemed to be an attempt by Ubi to stall for time while attempting to resolve the ending of Brotherhood, which was the entire reason I bought this game near launch. I almost never buy games near launch. I have relearned patience as a result.

It wrapped up Ezio's story nicely, and played well. Geriatric Altair redefines words like "grizzled" and "manly." Most new mechanics were welcome, but I was not a fan of Assassin Tower Defense.